John Kostrzewa: Tribe's objections to Quebec hydro power plan should be heard

Friday

Oct 14, 2016 at 9:28 AM

Because of the benefits, hydro power from Canada seems like a simple solution to New England's electrical needs. But it's not so simple.

PLYMOUTH, N.H. — It seems like a no-brainer.

Importing hydroelectric power from Quebec to New England would increase the region’s energy supply and lower costs for consumers and businesses. The increased use of the energy would also reduce the reliance on natural gas-fired power plants and pipelines that cause nasty fights among environmentalists, property owners and economic development officials.

Because of the benefits, hydropower from Canada seems like a simple solution — or so I thought until I attended a forum at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire and met six elders from the Pessamit Innu First Nation.

The leaders of the Innu community had traveled 600 miles from their reservation on the St. Lawrence River to speak to students, environmentalists, public officials and landowners about Hydro-Quebec’s plans to deliver electricity to New England.

"Where do you think the power comes from?" Pessamit Chief Ghislain Picard asked the crowd. His answer was the Betsiamites River in Quebec, where Hydro-Quebec, owned by the Quebec government, has built dams and powerhouses.

Picard said the power-generating stations affect the flow and depth of water in the river and have reduced the population of salmon, a key source of food and commerce for the Pessamit.

Picard said the rise and fall of the river also has eroded the riverbanks and clogged the salmons' spawning grounds.

Further, the elders said, the Pessamit tribe has hunted, trapped and fished on the rivers in Quebec for 8,000 years, and when they were moved to a reservation at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Betsiamites rivers, they were granted rights by the British to fish the river.

All that is threatened, they said.

"They are wiping out the salmon in the Betsiamites River to light our cities," Picard said.

Hydro-Quebec disagrees with the Pessamit tribe’s contentions.

"Construction of a new transmission line from our network to New Hampshire has absolutely no impact on the river," said Gary Sutherland, a spokesman for Hydro-Quebec, in an interview.

He said there are 63 hydropower generation stations in Quebec and only two are on the Betsiamites River. The network of dams and powerhouses was started in the 1950s to provide power to Quebec.

In the 1990s, Sutherland said, operational rules for the power plants were established with the Pessamit to ensure adequate water levels and flow rates that would guarantee the preservation of the Atlantic salmon and their spawning grounds.

He said even if new volumes of energy are created, the rules would still be in place to protect the salmon.

The issues raised by the Pessamit tribe come at a time when Hydro-Quebec and Eversource Energy are seeking approvals for a $1.6-billion project, called Northern Pass, to build a 192-mile transmission line to carry 1,090 megawatts of electricity to New England’s power grid.

The line would run from the Canadian border to Franklin, New Hampshire, where a converter terminal would be built. From there, the power would be carried to a substation in Deerfield, New Hampshire, and into the power grid.

The project uses existing rights of way and new rights of way for the locations of the transmission lines and towers.

Since the project was first proposed in 2010, property owners, environmentalists and others have complained that the transmission towers would scar the landscape, depress property values and hurt tourism. "Stop Northern Pass" signs dot the route throughout northern and central New Hampshire.

The developers argue the project will create jobs, stimulate economic activity and deliver a clean, new source of energy.

Partially in response to the concerns of opponents, the developers agreed to bury 60 miles of the transmission lines in the White Mountain National Forest and Franconia Notch.

The project still needs approvals from the U.S. Department of Energy and New Hampshire’s Site Evaluation Committee, a 15-member state board made up of state commissioners and agency directors who evaluate such proposals.

If the approvals are granted, Hydro-Quebec and Eversource plan to have the project up and running in early 2019.

Another piece of New England’s energy plans involves Hydro-Quebec.

Rhode Island Governor Raimondo and two other New England governors have made a joint request for proposals for clean new energy sources to stabilize energy costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and diversify the energy mix. The governors said their collaboration would allow them to evaluate larger-scale projects too costly for any one state. The developers of Northern Pass have applied to the proposal request, but no final decisions have been made.

For some, the Pessamit tribe’s argument may seem to have popped up late in the evaluation process and may appear to be paltry in the bigger picture of New England’s needs.

After all, energy is the lifeblood of the region, and there is a critical need for more and cheaper electricity to help the region compete for jobs and new businesses and to improve the quality of life of people who live here.

But the Pessamit tribe’s argument can’t be ignored. At the very least, Chief Picard and the other elders need to be heard by regulators who are evaluating the project and by officials in Quebec, their home province.

I don’t know who’s right — the Pessamit or Hydro-Quebec. But one thing is clear.

Nothing is as simple as it seems when it comes to solving New England’s complicated energy puzzle. And the Pessamit tribe holds at least a small piece that has to fit in somewhere.

-- John Kostrzewa is the Journal's assistant managing editor/business, commerce and consumer issues. Reach him at (401) 277-7330 or email jkostrze@providencejournal.com. Follow his posts on facebook.com/JohnKostrzewa or @JohnKostrzewa on Twitter.

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